Friends, Two of Us

Married life #19

Preface: Some of our friends work in the credit control department of a bank, where they have to call up credit card customers who have not paid up their bills. Typically, they would ask their customers to verify their identities with their IC numbers. One day, one of them had a customer who recited this over the phone to them: “My IC number is S1234567-Jack. Jack for Jorro.” He almost fell off the chair wondering what this “Jack for Jorro” nonsense was until he looked at the screen and saw that it was actually the letter Z. The customer had meant to say, “Z for Zorro” but had pronounced it as “Jack for Jorro.” We all had a good laugh when we heard it and since then, it’s been the stuff of urban legends.

Fast forward to the present. Mr Thick and I were in the car, on the way home.

Me: I’ve always wanted to give my kid a name starting with Z. But I don’t know any good boy name that starts with Z.

He: ZXXXX (some random word that he made up and which I completely cannot recall)

Me: That’s not a word.

He: Zidane.

Me: Don’t want. Will be like Pan Ling Ling’s kid, Beckham. So lame.

He: I know! He can be called Zimmy! After his dad.

Me: Zimmy Liew ah? Imagine the poor kid in school in future, introducing his dad to the teacher, “Hi teacher, I am Zimmy Liew and this is my father Jimmy Liew.”

He: Then the teacher will ask, “Why did your dad name you Zimmy?”

Me: His reply, “Cos he wanted to name me Jimmy Jr and he thought Jack is for Jorro.”

Okay. It sounds funnier than it reads, I promise you.
Come talk to me in real life and I will tell the story to you in person. I will try not to double up in laughter.